Stewards intervene to stop football fans from Israel and France during the match in Paris

Stewards had to intervene at the Nations League match between France and Israel on Thursday to prevent fans of both countries from clashing in the stands, an AFP reporter saw.

Videos taken by spectators and posted on the social media network

Stewards wearing orange bibs walked between the two groups to separate them.

Paris police told AFP they could not comment until they received more information.

The match will take place under heavy security after fans of the club Maccabi Tel Aviv were attacked in Amsterdam last week after a Europa League match against Ajax.

Violence flared in Amsterdam after Maccabi fans set fire to a Palestinian flag and vandalized a taxi the night before, authorities said.

Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema called the incidents a “toxic cocktail of anti-Semitism and hooliganism”.

About 4,000 police officers patrolled outside and inside the stadium in Paris.

Attendance was expected to be just 13,000 in a stadium with a capacity of 80,000.

The incidents in the Netherlands took place amid anti-Israel sentiments and anti-Semitic acts were reported around the world, spiking as Israel wages wars against Iran-backed Islamist militants in Lebanon and Gaza.

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